Omar Gonzalez had been angling for a call-up to the U.S. national team for months, with both the high-level of play that earned him the MLS defender of the year award and with his words.

Then, when it finally came, he turned it down.

Late on Wednesday night, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced that Gonzalez and FC Dallas defender George John, another highly-rated MLS talent who many feel deserved a look from coach Jurgen Klinsmann, will not report to the national team camp that just started in Arizona. They’re in Europe instead, working on finalizing the next stage of their club careers.

The pair was replaced by Seattle Sounders teammates Brad Evans (midfielder) and Jeff Parke (defender), who are good MLS players but far down Klinsmann’s depth chart. The U.S. is scheduled to play Venezuela on Jan. 21 and Panama on Jan. 25.

Why turn your back on an opportunity you’ve been hoping for? National team futures (and coaches) are fickle, but a lucrative contract with a high-level European club is a certain. Gonzalez and John have the chance to strike while the iron is blazing.

John, 24, saw last summer’s potential transfer to Blackburn Rovers scuttled because of the English Premier League club’s concerns about his ankle. John finished out the MLS season and now has another opportunity to move. He reportedly already is in England and has until the end of the month to finalize the deal. The club hasn’t been announced, but Blackburn and Wigan Athletic are among the possibilities.

Gonzalez’s situation is more complicated. On Thursday morning, German Bundesliga club FC Nürnberg announced the player had arrived in Belek, Turkey, a vacation spot on the Mediterranean, to begin a loan that will last until at least mid-February. He will train with the team and be eligible to play when Nürnberg returns to Germany and kicks off the second half of its season Jan. 21.

There was some speculation that Klinsmann, who has pushed MLS players to spend winters in Europe and has arranged several training stints himself, was involved in securing the Gonzalez loan. But that doesn’t make much sense—why call him into his first camp only to ship him to Germany?

In turns out Klinsmann had nothing to do with the arrangement. Instead, Sporting News has learned that Gonzalez, his agents and Nürnberg officials worked out a deal that could do far more for the player’s future than perhaps even the mercurial national team coach. Nürnberg spokesperson Martin Bader said on the club’s website that a permanent transfer is possible over the summer.

This is more than a loan. It’s an audition.

Nürnberg recently sold defender Philipp Wollscheid to Bundesliga rival Bayer Leverkusen, leaving a spot vacant in the back line (which includes U.S. national team defender Timmy Chandler) next fall.

“Omar is an interesting candidate—a young, talented player,” Bader said of the 6-5, 23-year-old who marshaled a youthful Galaxy defense in two consecutive Supporters Shield-winning seasons.

Klinsmann told ESPN that Gonzalez’s and John’s departures are “totally cool with me.” Neither was among the coach’s first-choice defenders, the January camp isn’t crucial and European seasoning might help both players improve.

Their trips abroad should be cool with the Galaxy and FC Dallas officials as well. Both Gonzalez and John are entering the final year of their MLS contracts. When those deals expire at the conclusion of the 2012 season, they would be free agents and able to move abroad without any transfer fee. That won’t be an issue for John, who’s now on the verge of a permanent move.

While Nürnberg’s Bader referenced a summer move for Gonzalez, it might be in the Galaxy’s best interest to sell the defender now and collect guaranteed compensation. During the summer transfer window, Gonzalez would be eligible to sign a binding pre-contract agreement with the club of his choosing.

MLS couldn’t stand in his way, and he’d then be able to play out the remaining three-plus months of the Galaxy’s season and walk away.

All of which means L.A. could kick off its title defense and the CONCACAF Champions League elimination rounds without its top back.

Gonzalez is a winner either way. He could join Nürnberg immediately and begin his European career sooner or wait and sign the pre-contract deal over the summer. At that point, he’ll have set himself up for a larger signing bonus. Instead of paying a transfer fee to MLS, Nürnberg could put that money straight into the player’s pocket.

There are plenty of moving parts, to be sure, but it’s in Gonzalez’s and John’s best interest to say “no thanks, not right now” to a national team coach who hasn’t made them a priority and “yes, I’m on my way” to clubs in big-time European leagues who want to make them wealthy and give them a platform well above MLS.

And if Gonzalez and John perform well in Europe, Klinsmann then would be hard pressed not to give them another chance in the near future.